Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (superb!)

[davidraphael]

I recently saw this film in the Berlin Neue Nationalgalerie. It was made in 1927 during the Weimar Republic. It's very similar in nature to 'Man with a Movie Camera' and, much later, films such as 'Koyaanisqatsi'.

'Berlin' is a silent film that simply follows life in the city over the course of one day. You get to see normal people going about their daily lives; their jobs, clothes, and social interactions are all caught in fine detail.

I was mesmerised by it and highly recommend it (and I can assure you - hat fans will be drooling over some of the many beauties in this film!)

It can be seen silent here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYKu5zegpfc


Or with music here:
[video]http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/yXJiUPscf_o[/video]

I think I prefer it with music...

 

[Henry Gondorff]

I was just watching this movie when I found your new thread on the Lounge; as you said, it is superb! But you know what drives me crazy? All this beauty was detroyed 12 years later because of a stupid, idiotic, unnecessary war - like so many other beautiful cities around the world. Let's never have that happen again - ok, folks?

 

[davidraphael]

I think that's what makes this film so interesting and special - we're looking at a place that would implode soon afterwards. This is the lull before the storm. A very rare insight.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

A priceless historic document of a world that sadly no longer exists. For musical accompaniment there's numerous videos incorporating footage from the film. Here are a couple of my favorites.

[video=youtube;XtoRYmKRwIE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtoRYmKRwIE[/video]

[video=youtube;hykEhE36Q10]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hykEhE36Q10[/video]

I just noticed that the young lady at 2:39 in the first clip looks a lot like our Stray Cat

 

[davidraphael]

I don't think the above footage is from the Berlin movie (I certainly didn't recognise any of it).
It also seems to be from a couple of years later

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

You may be right, though the second clip is definitely from the movie.

 

[Fletch]

One of my top ten documentaries, and one that brings on the sensation of time travel as vividly as I've ever experienced.

Another tour de force of Ruttmann's - not nearly so well known - was Wochenende (Weekend), an 11-minute sound collage made for Radio Berlin in 1930.

It used an early multitrack editing system involving optical sound on film. As in Symphony, all the material was taken directly from life - all during 36 hours in Berlin.


Klicken zu hören / Click to hear

 

[HadleyH]

I treasure "Berlin: Symphony of a Great City"!!! Absolutely amazing! I have this documentary and when I feel like stepping back in time I watch it! Utterly fantastic! :eusa_clap

Very much in the same vein but a little more avant-garde and experimental, I strongly recommend "Man with a Movie Camera" 1929 by Dziga Vertov - where Soviet citizens are shown at work and at play, in their daily lives,interacting with machinery ...

 

[Shangas]

I recently finished a blog-posting about Germany that ties in roughly with the theme of this thread. You may be interested in reading it. If you are, then it's here:

"A Forgotten Country: Germany Between the Wars"

I was inspired to write this after seeing some footage of Germany in the 1920s and early 1930s. Interwar Germany wasn't all sunshine and roses, but if it had lasted...who knows what we might've had today?

 

[Connery]

Nice thread!!!

I hope this adds to it.

Summer Holidays In Berlin (1930)
[video=youtube;FE-2twnFm4Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE-2twnFm4Y&feature=feedu[/video]

 

[Philip Adams]

Have just watched Symphony of a Great City and agree that it's an excellent film.

Found it too difficult to watch without music so switched to the alternative.

It was very enjoyable - particularly the shots of the little girl pulling the lion cub by the tail at 41:10!

Thanks for the post.

 

[Panadora]

Don't miss the french 1930 masterpiece "A propos de Nice" by Jean Vigo

 

[Panadora]

Rotten driving in NYC 1928

[video=youtube;lkqz3lpUBp0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkqz3lpUBp0[/video]

 

[Doctor Strange]

Every time this gets posted I have to point out that it's from the Harold Lloyd feature Speedy. It should not be taken as documentary evidence of how New Yorkers drove then!

 

[Panadora]

Except from most of the street life in the background and so on, I would be very surprised if anyone would take that as documentary evidence

 

[Doctor Strange]

All I meant is that, as a fan of the great silent comedians, when an excerpt of a classic film is shown without attribution, I find myself compelled to indicate what it's from. You know, honoring the greats. Simple nerd behavior. I didn't mean anything beyond a shout-out to Harold Lloyd.

 

[Panadora]

That would of course have been appropriate, sorry!

 

[Panadora]

Rien que les heures (1926) | Alberto Cavalcanti